An entity is a lightweight persistence domain object. Typically, an entity represents a table in a relational database, and each entity instance corresponds to a row in the table. The primary programming artifact of an entity is the entity class, although entities can use helper classes.

−

The persistent state of an entity is represented either through persistent fields or persistent properties. These fields or properties use object/relational mapping annotations to map the entities and entity relationships to the relational data in the underlying data store.

+

'''[[Image:Elug_draft_icon.png|Warning]] See "Understanding Entities" in the [http://www.eclipse.org/eclipselink/documentation/ EclipseLink Concepts Guide]'''

−

+

−

== Identifying an Entity ==

+

−

Use the <tt>@Entity</tt> annotation to specify that a class is an entity, as shown in the following example:

+

−

+

−

<source lang="java">

+

−

@Entity

+

−

public class Employee implements Serializable {

+

−

...

+

−

}

+

−

</source>

+

−

+

−

{{EclipseLink_Note|note=The entity class must also be listed in your <tt>persistence.xml</tt> file, unless you set the tag <code><exclude-unlisted-classes></code> to <code>false</code>. An entity can also be defined using an <tt>orm.xml</tt> file and the <code><entity></code> tag.}}

+

−

+

−

{{EclipseLink_Spec

+

−

|link=http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=220

+

−

|section=Chapter 2 "Entities"}}

+

−

+

−

==Configuring an Entity's Persistent Identity==

+

−

Every entity must have a persistent identity, which is an equivalent of a primary key in a database table that stores the entity state.

+

−

+

−

By default, the EclipseLink persistence provider assumes that each entity has at least one field or property that serves as a primary key.

+

−

+

−

You can generate and/or configure the identity of your entities by using the following annotations:

You can also use these annotations to fine-tune how your database maintains the identity of your entities.

+

−

+

−

{{EclipseLink_Note|note=If your class does not have a logical Id then you need to add a generated one. Embedded objects do not require an Id.}}

+

−

<br/>

+

−

+

−

==Configuring an Entity's Table==

+

−

Every entity class maps to a specific table or set of tables in the database. By default the entity's table name is defaulted as its entity name as uppercase, which defaults to the entity's short class name. An entity normally maps to a single table, but can also map to multiple tables, or even a view.

For information on how to create the tables in the database see, [[EclipseLink/UserGuide/JPA/Advanced_JPA_Development/Schema_Generation|Schema Generation]].

+

−

+

−

==Configuring Inheritance==

+

−

JPA defines several difference methods for persisting objects with inheritance. The <code>@Inheritance</code> annotation is used in the root class to define <code>SINGLE_TABLE</code>, <code>JOINED</code>, and <code>TABLE_PER_CLASS</code> inheritance. For abstract classes that define common state or persistence behavior, but have no relationship on the database, the <code>@MappedSuperclass</code> annotation can be used.

You can use the <tt>@Embeddable</tt> annotation to map an embedded class. An embeddable is a special type of class that is not directly persistent, but persisted only with its parent entity.

+

−

+

−

An embeddable can be referenced from an entity or another embeddable using the <tt>@Embedded</tt> annotation for a single reference, <tt>@EmbeddedId</tt> for an embedded id, or the <tt>@ElementCollection</tt> annotation for a <tt>Collection</tt> or <tt>Map</tt> reference. An embeddable can also be used in any <tt>Map</tt> key using the <tt>@MapKeyClass</tt> annotation.